Travel Mercies
My trip back to Kuwait started off badly – an hour and a half on a rainy, occasionally flooded interstate highway, crawling along between cars and big trucks. When, occasionally, the traffic got moving, I was beset by water cascading off these big huge trucks barrelling along – and at the same time, when you need to switch lanes, these big truckers are the ones who are going to let you in.
Check-in was a breeze – and I got a surprise. I wasn’t on my normal flight out of Amsterdam. I was on a much earlier flight. As usual, I sat in a secluded spot in the terminal and made my farewell calls. When friends and family wish me safe travels, I always ask them to keep me in prayer, for safe travels and for travel mercies. Travel mercies are blessings you haven’t even though of, but God knows, and can bless you in marvellous and amazing ways when you ask for travel mercies. He gives you protection – and more. He gives you travel BLESSINGS, if you have the eyes to see.
Unfortunately, my flight was delayed out of Seattle, and I had to RACE for this next flight, but made it – al hamdullah – and had an uneventful flight home.
Arriving at 5:30 p.m. is a whole different world from arriving at 10:30 p.m. Especially if you have been able to grab some sleep on the flight in, you have energy and time! Instead of arriving home feeling like something the cat dragged in, you arrive home feeling leisurely! Thanks be to God! What a travel mercy!
And thanks to all my friends and family keeping me wrapped in prayer. Your prayers were answered, bountifully! Thanks be to God!
Good friends cared for the Qatteri Cat while I was gone. When I walked in the door, there was no neurotic, needy Qatteri Cat. His coat didn’t have any knots in it (a sign he has been depressed and not doing his grooming.) No, he was friendly and balanced. I could see he had been well cared for, and a part of me is even a little jealous! I can see by QC’s behavior that they spent time with him; I know he really likes these people. Another Thanks be to God, a no-guilt return, the Qatteri Cat looks GOOD. Thanks be to God for all of you who prayed me safely home, and Thanks be to God for the sweet people who cared for QC.
Discovering the truth about St. Nicholas
There is a most wonderful website that is a perfect place to explore on this, the Feast of St. Nicholas. It is called The St. Nicholas Center and it has the stories, and all kinds of art work depicting the life and works of St. Nicholas of Bari.
No, the St. Nicholas that we all think of, the big roly-poly guy with eight tiny reindeer – he’s a modern creation. The real St. Nicholas is revered for his generousity, his love of giving, his loving protection of children, and his care for sailors and those at sea. He is believed to have lived in what was a part of Greece, and is now Turkey.
One of the things I love the best about this good man is that he did his good deeds in secret, not wanting any earthly reward. You can read more about him The Legends of St. Nicholas, HERE. In the last photo, he even looks Greek, or Turkish, or . . . Arab!
There are many many more images of St. Nicholas at the website above. What I love about them is that they are a far cry from that fat guy who thinks Christmas is all about getting what you want. St. Nicholas understands that the joy is in the GIVING.
Have your own secret St. Nicholas celebration – do something nice for someone and DON’T TELL ANYONE! 😉 Happy, Happy St. Nicholas Day!
Ivar’s in Mukilteo
Many of the local merchants sponsor gift trees at Christmas, so that people whose hearts are full of the spirit of giving can be generous to those with fewer resources. Ivar’s in Mukilteo, one of our old favorite restaurants (you can watch the Mukilteo ferry come and go as you dine by a warm fireplace on a cold night) has a particularly lovely gift tree:
Their trademark huge fish has a tiny little Santa’s cap for Christmas:
Emmet Watson’s
There was a crusty old journalist/columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer named Emmet Watson, who loved good food. He opened his own little place, hidden down in the Pike Place Market, back behind a lot of other shops. It even has a small outdoor eating area for the summer months. If you want some of Seattle’s best, most authentic northwest seafood, this is where you head. He isn’t around anymore, but his small restaurant still is, and worth a trip to the market.
Emmet Watson article:
Interior of restaurant:
Hand written menu on brown paper bag:
Captain’s seafood basket:
Cioppino:
Pike Place Market Fresh!
More photos from one of my favorite places on earth, the Pike Place Market:
Pike Place Market Readies for Christmas
I’ve always loved the Pike Place Market. It’s like the heart – and stomach – of Seattle. My favorite time of year is November, when there are far fewer tourists, but still fresh vegetables, fresh fish, and wonderful arrangements of pine boughs and Mexican peppers (called “ristras” when all strung together.)
Not Your Kuwait Parking Lot
When I first arrived in Kuwait, two very kind Kuwaiti ladies helped me take care of an important errand, showing me exactly where to go, who to trust, etc. Their kindness to me moved me greatly. As we left, I said “you have been SO kind, I insist on paying for parking” and they totally cracked up, almost limp and helpless with laughter, and then they explained to me that parking would cost 150 or 200 fils (around 50 – 80 cents).
In contrast, here is where we parked to go to the Pike Place Market:
Signs, Signs
I love signs. The very first sign I remember photographing was in Kenya, where it said “Elephants have the right of way.” This is a couple signs we came upon while walking along the waterfront, and it occurred to me that in this very law-abiding community, there were all kinds of signs telling you what you can’t do . . . LOTS of them!
And because we ate at the Rock Tavern, I keep hearing this song going through my head and thinking my sign says “Thank you very much, Lord!”
Lutefisk Dinner
Do you listen to Prairie Home Companion? Have you ever heard Garrison Kieler talk about Norwegians and lutefisk?
Wikipedia gives the following definition, and if you want to see a photo or know how to prepare it, you can check on the blue Wikipedia above:
Lutefisk (lutfisk) (pronounced [lʉːtəfɪsk] in Norway, [lʉːtfɪsk] in Sweden and the Swedish-speaking areas in Finland) is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries made from stockfish (air-dried whitefish) and soda lye (lut). In Sweden, it is called lutfisk, while in Finland it is known as lipeäkala. Its name literally means “lye fish”, owing to the fact that it is made with caustic soda or potash lye.
As I was googling lutefisk, I actually found a place you can order it at Walleyedirect.com and it will look like this:
You probably won’t want to. Lutefisk is what poor immigrant Norwegians used to eat through the long winters. It is cod that has been soaked in lye and then dried to preserve it. It is also incredibly smelly. If you are at all sensitive to smell, you will probably not even be able to be in the same room with lutefisk.
Why am I telling you all this? Some people find lutefisk a rare delicacy; it brings back nostalgic memories of the good old days. Only in communities with pockets of heavy Scandinavian decent will you find signs on bulletin boards like this:
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